Toy moving-picture theater.



Patented Aug. '14.,A 1.9.17. 2 sHEEssH'EEr 1.1`

l1-.1111411 affitti siinninnl anni n A. 4l.. BOWEN. TOY MOVING PICTURETHEATER.

, APPLICATION FILED NOV. 25|1gI4.

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AL L. BOWEN.

Tov MOVING PICTURE-THEATER. v APPLICATION FILED -NOV. 25J 1914.

Patented Aug. 14, 1917.

- 2 sHEETssHEEf 2.

ARTHUR L. BOWEN, OFCHI'AGO, ILLINOIS Specification of Letters'TPatentApplication led November 25, 1914. Serial No. 873,990.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ARTHUR L. BOWEN, acitizen of the United States, anda residentk of Chicago, county of Cook, and State of Illinois, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Toy Moving-PictureTheaters, of which the following isa specification.

My invention relates to toys and has particular reference to toys which,if desired', can be constructed of still paper, cardboard,- or similarmaterial.

The general object of my invention is to provide a cheap, and simple yetsubstantialA toy, for showing series of pictures in simulation of motionpictures.

A further object of my invention is to provide a' toy which, if desired,can bey constructed almost wholly of heavy paper cardboard or similarmaterial and withl which pictures can be displayed from a reel to anobserver looking through the front of the toy and at the same time givehim the impression of being within a moving picture theater. Y

My invention consists generally in the unique arrangement, construction,and cooperation of parts whereby the above mentioned objects, as welllas others which will. appear hereinafter, are attainable.4

My invention will be more readily understood by reference to theaccompanyingl drawings forming a part of this specification, andwherein:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a device embodying my invention; e l

Fig. 2 is afront elevation thereof somewhat enlarged;

Fig. 3Y is a somewhat similar front elevation showing the door opened topermit viewf ing of the pictures;

Fig. 4 i's a longitudinal section Vsubstantially on the line 1C-ll ofFig. 2; A

Fig. 5 is a detailview of the coin-operated door lock;

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of the reelholding member; o

Fig. 7 is a perspective view showing the. reeling means; l

Fig. 8 is a perspective view of the picture shield definer; and v Figs.9, 10, 11, 12 and 13' are viewsof the different parts of the device inflat condition with the folds indicated in dotted? lines.

As is well known,` a child delights' in imi.- tating' the things whichhe comes'in con'- taot it is through such constructive imitation thathis mind' is so rapidly developed.-

It is my purpose here to provide a device or toy for children which isat once entertainin'gj and instructive and with which thatV noveltywhich interests the child may be maintained. 'Io this end I have deviseda unique toy' wherein the child canl operate4 his' own' moving picturetheater, which he can also make the films= or strip of pictures whichAhe" displays.

my invention contemplates comi'c pictures which lare printed' iln sozmany of' the papers throughout the country. By taking such pictures',which' arey usually printed in series, andi pasting several seriestogether the child can readily provide long.V

strips whichcan be easily wound upon' a reel. Furthermore, by making newones from time to time from thel currentpapers his interest in the toy''can be maintained.

Having thusxdescribed the general objects and purpose` ofV myinven'tiomI shall now describe' in detail the preferred embodimentthereof.

The device shown comprisesfthree mainl parts, tor-wit, the front thebody or boX portion, B, andl the' rear' or reel-containing' portion Thebody portion BV is made,y inA this instance of along sheet of cardboardscored along fourlines b (see Fig. 9) thereby forming four substantiallyequal flaps' b1 and a'y small flap: v79?. The sheet is folded .on thelines b' to form a hol-low rectangular' prism-shaped member' and held insuch position bythe flap'. 62, which is preferably'Y gumme'd for thatpurpose.` For convenience, I shall term this the body portion. l 'Iw'oof the folds are; provided with exten-ding' portions b3 which yare bentat right angles to the 'structure when folded, vand to which the front Ais attached, in means' of the paper fasteners aj. The front A ispreferably printed to representV the= typical front usually provided formovingl picture-theaters', but of course may be of' any desired form orimprint or' may beI per'- fectlylblank. I forma door al byv cuttingalong the lines a? and hinge it by scoring' along' the line a3'. The.vdoor may thus be' swung out to permit viewing the pictures' at theVrear'of the device. provide a unique coincontr'oljled lock for' the doorthe operation of which will probably be best understood by references toFigs; 2, 4 and 5.

k@at a' conslot' al inthe door,

eatsimeri Aug.. inicia.

and for' y For example, the use of' thek this instance' byv and j'u'stbe Y low this slot I pivot a bar or lever a, one end of which isprovidedwith a pocket cl2. When the lever is in horizontal position theother end cl3 engages a portion a of the front A thus preventing thedoor from moving outwardly. By placing a coin through the slot 0:10 itdrops into the pocket cl2 and thus throws the lever or latch into theposition indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 5, and permits opening thedoor. The latch or lever c I attach, so that it will stay, by frictionalcontact, in any position in which it is placed except when a coin orother weight strikes it. In order to return the latch to lockedposition, I provide a vertical slot c through which a pin or other smallarticle may be placed in contact with the latch, and remove it from theposition shown in dotted lines in Fig. 5 to the fullline position, readyagain to be operated by placing a coin through the slot. It should benoted that after the latch is returned to locked position the doorcannot be opened except by means of the coin or other weight placedthrough the slot,'as the top of the latch is just below the bottom ofthe slot am. This feature fulls the desire of the child to have anadmission fee paid before the pictures can be viewed.

The reel or picture-forming portion C, in this instance. is formed froma substantially square piece of paper cut and scored as indicated inFig. 11, so that it may be folded to form a cover-like member. It isheld in this condition by means of the tongues c which are placedthrough the respective slots c1. In two of the vertical walls I provideslots c2 and c3 for the reception of the rolls forming the reel. Thereeling means, as is best shown in Fig. 7, comprises two rolls et ofsimilar construction, eachof which is provided with a slot c5 throughwhich the end of the paper c6 or other picture-containing material maybe inserted, and in each roll I also provide two circumferential groovesc7. The rolls are of a diameter slightly greater than the width of slotsc2 and c3 in the member C, while the diameter of the roll at the groovec7 is substantially the same. Thus the rolls can only be placed into theslots 02 and c3 with the circumferential grooves c7 coperating with theedge of the cardboard defining slots 02 and G3. The cardboard sides ofthe cover member therefore not only form a bearingl upon which the rollsmay be rotated but they also serve to hold the rolls firmly againstlengthwise movement. The upper slots c3 are preferably notched as at 08.The upper roll operates in the notched portion and is thereby preventedfrom moving longitudinally of the slots. In order to expose only adefinite portion of the picture strip c, I prefer to provide a shield ormat 01. This is simply a sheet of cardboard or thick paper provided withan opening c of the desired size and two flap portions en The width ofthe shield 010 is substantially the Width of the coverlile member C andwhen placed therein the flaps cl2 hold it in position by frictionalcontact with the sides of the member C. The member C slips on to thebody portion B of the device as a cover on to a box and can therefore beeasily removed and replaced. When the cover member C is removed thetached to enable easy strip.

The picture strip is somewhat remote from the front opening of the toyand is not under some conditions very well lighted thereby. This isparticularly so when the toy is used in the evening with the usualartificial light in the upper part of the room. In order that thepictures may be well lighted under all conditions I have devised asimple and eective means of projecting light upon the picture strip. Forthis purpose I cut a portion of the upper part of the box along threelines r, r1 and r2 so as to separate it therefrom and then fold the flapF thus formed, inwardly to such angular position that it will projectlight upon the picture strip. The surface 7 is preferably provided witha white glazed finish so that it will reflect most of the light whichstrikes it. It will be noted that the flap F does not depend below theupper line of the picture as defined by the shield or mat 010 so that itnowise obstructs the observers view. This reflector throws considerablelight upon the pictures and makes them appear quite bright in contrastto the relatively dark interior portion of the remainder of the toy.

a more pronounced light effect is desired I form another reflector Supon the bottom of the toy and preferably somewhat forward of the upperreflector. This is placement of a new formed in a manner similar to theupper reiiector, by cutting the paper along three lines s, s1 and s2,and then bending the portion thus formed inwardly. The inner surface s3is a refiector surface covered with a white glazed paper or othersuitable nish which absorbs but little light. In order to permit thelight to reach the-refiector S I form an opening o in the upper part ofthe box directly thereover. It should also be noted that the flap S innowise interferes with the observers view. Therefore while two inwardlyextending reflectors are provided which act to throw ampleflight uponthe picture, they do so without obstructing the view of the observer.

The child while looking into the theater through the door can, at thesame time, easily manipulate the rolls in order to bring into view thedifferent pictures contained on the strip and by rotating the rollsrapidly produce a motion picture effect from a series of reel can beeasily de-y pictures. After viewing all of the pictures upon a givenstrip a new strip can be easily and quickly supplied in the mannerindicated, and thus an almost endless source of amusement provided. Thechild owning the toy can, of course, simply act as operator, and showhis various reels to others of whom he can require tribute in the formof a coin, if he so desires.

From the detailed description it is thought that the advantages of myinvention will be apparent, but because this disclosure will readilysuggest to others, skilledin the art, modified structures wherewith thesubstantial objects of my invention can be attained, I do not wish to belimited to the specific structure herein shown and described, eX- ceptas may be necessary by express limitations in the claims hereuntoappended.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent:

l. A toy motion-picture theater, comprising an elongated box-like bodyportion, a cover-like member removably attached thereto at one end, anda picture reel mounted in the cover member, said body portion having alarge opening at the other end through which the pictures can be seen. p

2. A toy of the class described, comprising a. hollow body portionsubstantially rectangularly shaped, a cover-like member removablyattached to one end thereof, a picture reel mounted in the cover memberfor easy removal therefrom, said body portion being open at the otherend to expose the pictures to view.

3. A toy theater comprising an elongated hollow body portion, a picturereel holder slidable upon one end thereof, and having slots to receiveand hold two rolls, forming a reel, in spaced relation and said bodyhaving an opening at the end opposite to the picture reel through whichthe pictures may be viewed.

4. A toy theater comprising an elongated hollow body portion, incombination with a picture reel holder formed to fit one end thereof,and having two pairs of slots formed therein, two rolls each having twocircumferential grooves therein and cooperating with the edges of thepaper adjacent the slots in the reel holder, said body portion having alarge opening at the opposite end through which the pictures may beviewed.

5. A toy theater comprising a hollow body portion, picture-reeling meansremovably mounted in one end thereof, a picture deliner for exposingonly the desired portion of the picture reel, said body portion beingformed with a large opening at the opposite end to permit the inspectionof the picture.

6. A toy of the class described comprising an elongated hollow bodyportion, picture reeling means mounted in one end thereof and a doorclosing the other end of the body portion, said door being arranged toopen to permit inspection of the pictures upon the reel, and acoin-operated lock for holding the door closed.

7. A toy of the class described, comprising an elongated hollow bodyportion, picture reeling means on one end thereof, a door at the otherend, coin-operated unlatching means for controlling the door, and a slotadjacent the latch so that it can be returned to locked position.

8. A toy of the class described, comprising an elongated hollow bodyportion, picture reeling means removably mounted at one end thereof, adoor at the other end, which, when open, permits inspection of the reel,and a coin-controlled lock for holding the door in closed position.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, this 14th day ofNovember, 1914:, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

ARTHUR L. BOWEN.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, ID. Q.

